Laundry #15
I feel like I have to say this: if you ever decide to use my writing for anything, please acknowledge me, if not it's plagiarism!
I have a washing machine. It is nothing really fancy but it is real cute. When it is turned on, it sings a little high-pitched tune that reminds me of a baby toys that beep. The washer also sings a variety of tunes during different stages of the wash - spin, rinse, wash etc. It is quite pleasant to the ears considering how burdensome doing laundry can be.
You got to separate the whites from the coloured; the fuzzy from the er, non-fuzzy; put all the dark-coloured ones together; pry the underwear from the bottoms in case they get lost with the main washing. Most importantly, make sure clothing that run colour are not mixed in or else all hell breaks loose when all goes to wash. I've had a disaster or two myself and I know the benefits of following time-tested wisdom. When I was studying overseas, I had a yellow sweater I threw in with my black sweaters because I was too lazy to dry-clean it. I ended up wearing spots of yellow for the following weeks, even my black cordoroys were not spared!
I am not sure where I learnt such 'guidelines to doing laundry'. I guess such things are passed on from person to person. There really isn't a start or a finish to such handing over of knowledge. For those who do not know, they ask and for those who know, they pass on. It's quite quaint really.
The washing machine is a wonderful invention. It can wash and spin dry virtually everything - big, small, furry and elastic in one big tub, with the control of a few keys. It handles washing effortlessly and produces the same kind of results, which will otherwise take an eternity, if done by hand. When I have had a hard day's work, I can mindlessly pop my washing in, stare into space and hang them up to dry and still make it to bed without breaking a sweat.
But not everything can be left to the machine.
Underwear wears me out overly. Those delicates end up a wrangled mess if left to the washing machine. I have to bend over bucket to rinse them two to three times over to get rid of all the soap suds. On top of that, wring them dry and peg them.
When I first started to hand wash my things I had no idea when they were really clean. Thank God common sense kicked in and I realised that as long as I ran them through water and do not see anymore soap bubbles, they were clean.
Next comes the drying process. Underwear and underwires are easy. Just attach them to those cute, round clothes pegs that sell for a mere $4 from the budget store and they dry up in a day. The tediousness comes when every, every individual piece of clothing has to be straightened out from the wash and manoeuvred onto a hanger, only to be hung onto a bamboo pole for drying. Learning the acrobatics of it almost drove me to tears at first but I soon got the hang of it and now, I can do it in double time!
The best part about laundry is, yes, taking them down from the hangers when they are dried. I love, especially taking down the hand-washed ones.
As I take each piece off one by one, I survey the beauty of my handiwork - clean, fresh, sun-dried underwear, ready for use. Ahh... The feeling of wearing the work of my hands is incredible.
Even taking down the machine-washed ones make me smile. I have clean clothes to wear! And decent looking ones I may add.
I never had a good look at my clothes until I had to do my own washing: some T-shirts have been washed to an embarrassing thinness, the button on my shorts is falling out, I have only 2 good white t-shirts for running etc. I have mostly white t shirts. I do not wear skirts very often, My socks stink real bad. I never knew them as well as I do till now - when I had to touch and straighten them out. Now, I know every zip, strap and stain.
I enjoy wearing and washing my clothes. What would I do if I did not have them? I can't fashion leaf and twig for decency. I don't live in Eden and I can't walk around naked. Also, some pieces are way too expensive to replace on a regular basis. If this is the case, I will gladly hand-wash them to keep them in good condition for as long as possible.
I have a washing machine. It is nothing really fancy but it is real cute. When it is turned on, it sings a little high-pitched tune that reminds me of a baby toys that beep. The washer also sings a variety of tunes during different stages of the wash - spin, rinse, wash etc. It is quite pleasant to the ears considering how burdensome doing laundry can be.
You got to separate the whites from the coloured; the fuzzy from the er, non-fuzzy; put all the dark-coloured ones together; pry the underwear from the bottoms in case they get lost with the main washing. Most importantly, make sure clothing that run colour are not mixed in or else all hell breaks loose when all goes to wash. I've had a disaster or two myself and I know the benefits of following time-tested wisdom. When I was studying overseas, I had a yellow sweater I threw in with my black sweaters because I was too lazy to dry-clean it. I ended up wearing spots of yellow for the following weeks, even my black cordoroys were not spared!
I am not sure where I learnt such 'guidelines to doing laundry'. I guess such things are passed on from person to person. There really isn't a start or a finish to such handing over of knowledge. For those who do not know, they ask and for those who know, they pass on. It's quite quaint really.
The washing machine is a wonderful invention. It can wash and spin dry virtually everything - big, small, furry and elastic in one big tub, with the control of a few keys. It handles washing effortlessly and produces the same kind of results, which will otherwise take an eternity, if done by hand. When I have had a hard day's work, I can mindlessly pop my washing in, stare into space and hang them up to dry and still make it to bed without breaking a sweat.
But not everything can be left to the machine.
Underwear wears me out overly. Those delicates end up a wrangled mess if left to the washing machine. I have to bend over bucket to rinse them two to three times over to get rid of all the soap suds. On top of that, wring them dry and peg them.
When I first started to hand wash my things I had no idea when they were really clean. Thank God common sense kicked in and I realised that as long as I ran them through water and do not see anymore soap bubbles, they were clean.
Next comes the drying process. Underwear and underwires are easy. Just attach them to those cute, round clothes pegs that sell for a mere $4 from the budget store and they dry up in a day. The tediousness comes when every, every individual piece of clothing has to be straightened out from the wash and manoeuvred onto a hanger, only to be hung onto a bamboo pole for drying. Learning the acrobatics of it almost drove me to tears at first but I soon got the hang of it and now, I can do it in double time!
The best part about laundry is, yes, taking them down from the hangers when they are dried. I love, especially taking down the hand-washed ones.
As I take each piece off one by one, I survey the beauty of my handiwork - clean, fresh, sun-dried underwear, ready for use. Ahh... The feeling of wearing the work of my hands is incredible.
Even taking down the machine-washed ones make me smile. I have clean clothes to wear! And decent looking ones I may add.
I never had a good look at my clothes until I had to do my own washing: some T-shirts have been washed to an embarrassing thinness, the button on my shorts is falling out, I have only 2 good white t-shirts for running etc. I have mostly white t shirts. I do not wear skirts very often, My socks stink real bad. I never knew them as well as I do till now - when I had to touch and straighten them out. Now, I know every zip, strap and stain.
I enjoy wearing and washing my clothes. What would I do if I did not have them? I can't fashion leaf and twig for decency. I don't live in Eden and I can't walk around naked. Also, some pieces are way too expensive to replace on a regular basis. If this is the case, I will gladly hand-wash them to keep them in good condition for as long as possible.
posted by Bunny at 1:50 AM
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